Ponds Receives More Accolades

St. John’s sophomore guard Shamorie Ponds, who received the Big East Payer of The Week on Monday, received a couple more accolades as he was named the Citizen Naismith National Player of the Week, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, and the Player of the Week by Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA).

Ponds averaged 32.0 points shooting 55.8 percent (24-43 FG) from the field, to go with 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 steals and 4.0 assists in two games last week versus No. 6/6 Xavier and No. 4/5 Duke. The Brooklyn native’s marquee performance came on Saturday against the Blue Devils, as Ponds led St. John’s to an 81-77 victory at Madison Square Garden after recording 33 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals. Most notably, it was Ponds’ clutch 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining that helped push St. John’s over the top in its 23rd all-time meeting with Duke.

The sophomore guard kicked off his week with a stellar performance on Tuesday against No. 6/6 Xavier, scoring 31 points, grabbing five rebounds, dishing out five assists, and swiping a career-high six steals in a closely contested 73-68 loss to the Musketeers at Carnesecca Arena. Despite the losing effort, Ponds became the 51st member of the St. John’s 1,000-point club and just the 10th player in program history to crack the mark in his second season with the Johnnies.